Geax
Aka TNT
Tire

Product Description

The AKA was designed to dominate in situations where the knob must penetrate the ground without digging, and offer exceptional grip without slowing the wheel down. Even adverse terrains like gravel, sand, and grass aren’t a match for ...

This is a review for the 29er 2.2 version. I was riding in Fruita with two friends and one got a damaged rear tire so we went into Colorado Backcountry Bikes and Tony recommended this as a replacement. I had always been reluctant to try a small block tire tread because I ride mostly in the desert with loose sand, gravel, and rocks and thought I needed big knobs on both tires. I was interested in getting my friend’s ride report. He liked the tire so I decided to try one when I got home. Wow, I also really like this as a rear tire for desert riding. The first thing I noticed is how much less rolling resistance there was. I could go faster with less effort and less fatigue during the ride. I was also pleasantly surprised at the excellent traction. It does great through deep sand, gravel, rocks, and it really shines on that traction bugaboo: uphill with loose kitty litter on hard pack. I have also ridden with it in wet sand with some muddy patches and it handled that just fine as well. I cannot speak to how it would do in a consistently wet and muddy environment with wet and slippery rocks, roots, etc. I run tubeless and it holds air really well, far better than the other brands I’ve tried. A shout out for Tony for recommending this tire.

This is a fairly stiff tire so to get good performance from it you may need to lower your air pressure. I’m a small rider so usually run around 18-20 psi on other brands. I had to lower it to 15 psi for this tire. It has a foldable bead but it’s fairly stiff making it difficult to get on and off the rim of my Bontrager Rhythm Elite wheels. I never had any trouble getting tires on and off rims in the old days of rims designed for tubes but I really struggle with tubeless rims and tires. Since I went tubeless I usually have a bike store install my tires because they can do in minutes what would take me a long time and lots of naughty words to accomplish. A friend and I managed to install this tire but it was a struggle. I’m not sure I could get this, or other tubeless tires for that matter, on and off the rim by myself so that worries me a bit, but a lot of that depends on your wheel, as well as hand strength and skill level with changing tires. The upside is that it seats very well on the rim. I’ve had it for four months and ride about every other day. So far it’s proving to be quite durable.

Weaknesses: Aside from being an absolute nightmare to mount on Stans Arch EX wheels, the only negative aspect of these tires is how they handle wet rock. No exaggeration, the sensation is like riding on ice. Although I'm in Austin, I was born/raised in New Hampshire. Absolutely the same experience as riding on ice. Fortunately, it almost never rains here so not a deal-breaker.

Bottom Line:

Running the front in the standard direction and the rear reversed, this is an excellent combo for the loose over hardpack and rocky conditions in Austin, TX. These are stellar tires for anything except wet rock. If you're on these tires and see wet rock...prepare for potential disaster.